Sports Neurology Fellowship
The Sports Neurology - Neurotrauma Fellowship is a two-year program that involves intensive clinical and research training in the fields of sports neurotrauma and traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Accepting applications for 2025-2027 Fellowship from August 1, 2023- November 15, 2023.
Description:
The UCLA Steve Tisch BrainSPORT Program is a multidisciplinary center aimed at providing the world's best sports-concussion care for youth athletes. We have relationships with various professional and collegiate athletic programs and also close partnerships with the U.S. Military and U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, through UCLA Operation Mend. In our two-year clinical and research fellowship, trainees will work closely with clinic attending neurologists and neuropsychologists.
The fellowship exposes trainees to pediatric sports related concussion, preseason sports neurology examination, sideline concussion management, mTBI military patients, and some more severe TBI patients. Under the mentorship of leading scientists, fellows will be expected to design and carry out a research project investigating neurotrauma, sports neurology, or another related topic of their choice.
Requirements:
Applicants must have completed a residency in child neurology, adult neurology, or PM&R prior to the start of the fellowship and be eligible for a license to practice medicine in the state of California.
How To Apply:
To apply, please send the following materials to:
Alejandra Corona, Pediatric Neurology Administrative Assistant ()
I. Curriculum-vitae
II. Personal Statement (Can be up to 1.5 pages single spaced)
III. Three Letters of Recommendation (One letter should come from your residency program director)
For more information, please contact:
Meeryo Choe, MD
Tisch Fellowship Director
Associate Director, UCLA Steve Tisch BrainSPORT Program
Past Tisch BrainSPORT Fellows
Kevin C. Bickart, MD, PhD
Kevin Bickart grew up playing football from the age of 9 where he had some of his most formative and inspiring experiences. In that time, he also saw first-hand many devastating sports-related injuries, including many head injuries and repetitive head impacts that could have been prevented or more optimally managed.
Dorothy Harris, MD, PhD
Dr. Harris is a California native who received her B.S. in Biology from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. She returned to California and completed her Ph.D. in Neuroscience at UCLA studying molecular mechanisms of brain repair in the adult brain. She remained at UCLA to complete a postdoctoral fellowship in Health Services Research.
Julia Kerrigan, MD
Dr. Julia Kerrigan grew up in Minnesota before traveling to California to play basketball at Santa Barbara's Westmont College where she was a four year starting center and All-American scholar athlete. After receiving her undergraduate degree, she accepted a clinical research position in Oslo, Norway where she investigated the influence of antibiotics on long term complications related to otitis media and presented her findings at an international conference in Paris, France in 2005.
Rachel Pearson, MD
Dr. Rachel Pearson grew up in Memphis, Tennessee and received her B.A. in History from Washington University in Saint Louis. During this time she studied abroad in Israel and interned at the Center for Familial Dysautonomia at Hadassah Medical Center. After obtaining her undergraduate degree, she attended the Medical College of Wisconsin and completed her M.D.
Rafael Romeu-Mejia, MD
Dr. Rafael Romeu-Mejia was born and raised in Puerto Rico, where he completed his undergraduate and medical school degrees while being involved in community service and academics. He recently graduated from Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) residency at the VA Caribbean Healthcare System in San Juan, P.R.
Tara Sharma, DO
Dr. Tara Sharma grew up in La Canada, California where she spent most of her early years as a competitive figure skater competing in regional and national level competitions. After receiving her undergraduate degree in Biology at Claremont Mckenna College, Dr. Sharma worked in a molecular neurology lab at the Huntington Medical Research Institute in Pasadena, CA on a project targeting enzymes involved in pathways implicated in the transmission of migraine pain.